The Trials and Tribulations of The 3rd Street Saints
by Sierrapeyton
Summary: The Saints are going through hell right now. Shaundi and the Boss are struggling and neither can figure out what it is that they want from each other, but trials might bring them together, not to mention that there may be more than meets the eye to why Gat and the Boss are so close. And to top it all of, three rival gangs want the Saints disbanded and won't stop until they are. AU
1. Chapter 1 A Night of Drunken Debauchery

A/N This is a rewrite of my other story, The Private Life of Saints. I saw no way to continue the story as it was so I rewrote it. Most things will be the same, but several events will be changed from both Saints Row 2 and my other story. This chapter will be written in both first person and third person. It will be in both Raider and Shaundi's perspective to avoid confusion, Shaundi's perspective is typed in bold, while Raider's will be italics.

_Disclaimer: The Saints Row Franchise and all associated media belongs to Volition and Deep Silver, formerly THQ. I own nothing aside from my OC's._

The harsh smell of EverClear and blunts filled the main room of the Saints Hideout, the lights were dimmed and the only source of illumination that the area had came from the occasional beam of fire from a lighter as one of the Saints lit up. Let me in by Hot Hot Heat played from the large silver speakers situated behind the bar, Pierce had stolen them not long before because of how he felt about the decorations of the nearly unfurnished living room, 'This room is a shithole and needs more style'. Raider, the leader, or 'Boss', as he was more commonly referred to as, sat on one of the dirty mismatched couches in the center of the room. He had a shot of the powerful EverClear in his left hand, and a lit blunt in his right. He'd been alternating between drinking and smoking for half an hour, and was finding it harder to focus on much else. He did remember that something bad had happened to him earlier, or he'd received terrible news. Either way, it hadn't been difficult for Gat to convince him to party.

Everyone was incapacitated, aside from Raider and Shaundi. Gat was passed out on the grimy glass coffee table in the middle of the couch and love-seat. He'd gotten to nearly three shots of the liquor before he'd laid down and the coffee table and fallen asleep. _'Maybe he died, he looks kind of... well, dead.', _thought Raider to himself, scooting forward a little bit to see if Gat was breathing. It looked like he was, but Pierce, he suddenly wasn't so sure about. The African mad laid on the floor beside the coffee table, absolutely still.

He probably wouldn't have moved had he not been lying in front of the love-seat where Shaundi just so happened to be sitting. She, not realizing that the lieutenant was on the stained carpet under her feet, started stomping her tennis shoe clad feet to the beat of Let me in, and just so happened to stomp of Pierce. His face, precisely. Pierce by pure luck, moved out of the way while remaining unconscious. Raider laughed, he sounded like he was in a tunnel, and he wondered why. He tried to sort through the mess that was his though processes until her heard a god awful sound coming from the bathroom to the right of the mini bar to the far left of the room. He realized that the only person missing was Carlos, so it must be him that was already hungover. _''Fuck, maybe we shouldn't have let him drink this shit. The kid can't handle beer.' _Raider thought to himself, becoming more coherent with the realization.

But Raider blissfully relapsed into a state of not knowing shit as he finished off his shot of EverClear. He noticed Shaundi staring at the avenging angel statue on the base of the tall metal staircase behind the couch that he was sitting on. The angel statue was in disrepair, but it was obvious that it had once been beautiful, and could be again. Shaundi smiled when she caught her boss staring at her, and winked seductively at him. He was surprised when he felt himself smile too. She got off of the couch and stepped over Pierce, nearly tripping over his extremities. Carefully Shaundi worked her way over to the couch that Raider was on and sat down beside him. She smelled like booze and smoke and something else, was that rose petals? He didn't have time to ponder the answer to that question before Shaundi leaned towards and whispered in his ear. For some odd reason, her whispering in his ear made him remember how he'd felt about her the first time that he'd met her, when he'd taken her stunt jumping for her recruitment. He hadn't known why, but he'd felt instantly drawn to Shaundi.

He didn't know if it was her charisma, or her body, or what. But he had been attracted to Shaundi since the moment that he had met her. He had just never tried to get with her because he didn't want to be a victim of her many breakups. She dropped "boyfriends" quicker than a sumo wrestler would knock out a light weight boxer. But he was drunk, she was drunk, and it was perfect. He could have his fantasy of having sex with his lieutenant realized, without the commitment. Hell, neither of them would remember it in the morning. Fuck and go policy, something that they both evidently believed in. Shaundi could obviously see the wheels turning in Raider's head. She smiled wider and reached towards him, placing her fingers on his jaw. She traced her fingers down his front and landed just above his gold belt buckle. She looked calm, but her hazel eyes betrayed her. She felt the need to wait for permission because of his status as her boss. The girl was surprisingly smart, even when completely fucked up.

"Shaundi, do you really want to, I mean-" Shaundi cut Raider off with a finger over his lips. She traced them with her finger nail and smiled.

"Boss, I want to. That really shouldn't surprise you." She put her hand back on his belt buckle and unfastened it,then quickly moved on to unzipping the fly of his black dress pants. A bulge formed in them and she realized what that meant. "Someone's ready for a little fun.", she added leaning towards him and laying her head on his shoulder.

"Shaundi", he began, trying to ignore the discomfort that she had caused him, "my name's Raider. You can call me that."' Shaundi's hazel eyes were wide, but she said nothing, only nodded.

Raider's perspective

_I didn't know where to go from there. I'd kept my name a secret from my gang for a reason, but I don't remember why. And now he we were, me and Shaundi just about to cross into the point of no return. I'd always had some type of feelings for Shaundi, ever since the day that we stunt jumped in the trailer park. I'd never been able to figure out whether or not I like her body, or how she acts. For sure, she had a great figure, but she was also funny, sarcastic, tactical, and well, she was smart. She looked at me, and I knew that we were grasping at straws. Both of us wanted to have sex, but neither one of us was willing to break the ice and dive into the uncharted territory. If she won't do it, it'll have to be me. _

Shaundi's perspective

**I could see the gears turning in the Boss, I mean Raider's eyes. He clearly wanted to have sex, but he seemed to be afraid. Honestly, so was I. But why? It was sex, I had sex all the time. Why the fuck did it feel different with him. I know he's my boss and all, but that didn't stop me from screwing Jacob Wright when I worked for him at Freckle Bitches. But still, Raider, he was different. I didn't want to hurt him, and I was afraid that a one-night stand would end badly and cost me my position as a lieutenant. But he should have known that with how many guys that I fuck, that loving me is a dangerous thing to want. I realized that I'd drifted off into my own world, and Raider was watching me. As soon as he saw that he had my attention again, he didn't hesitate, he just leaned down and planted his lips on mine. I let myself go in his kiss. **

Shaundi and Raider kissed passionately for several seconds, Shaundi traced her tongue across Raider's bottom lip and he moaned. She moved her mouth down to the right side of his neck and kissed him, she glanced back up at him and noticed him smiling at her, his pearly white teeth shone in the dim lighting. He reached towards and did something that she never thought that he would do. He reached for the hem of her tank top and pulled it up over her head. She was now wearing a purple fleur-de-lis bra and her purple skinny jeans. She realized that they were playing a game, and it was her turn. She went for his black trench coat, and pulled it off of him. She smiled and hitched it towards the still unconscious Pierce. The coat hit him and spread out over him like a blanket. Shaundi and Raider smiled at each other until she decided to cheat. Shaundi slowly unbuttoned Raider's black dress shirt and traced her fingers down his chest. He moaned and picked her up, sitting her in his lap. Shaundi finished removing his shirt and leaned backwards off of Raider's lap and placed the used shirt across Gat's back.

He stirred slightly, but didn't awaken. Raider grabbed Shaundi and stood up, holding her in his arms. She laid her head on his shoulder as he carried her up the metal stairs. She hoped that the loud reverberation of Raider's footsteps wouldn't wake up the rest of the gang. Raider passed the avenging angel statue and Shaundi could have sworn that the beautiful mouth of the stone figure curved into a happy grin. But it was probably just a trick of the light. Shaundi lifted her head up and grabbed Raider's head, forcing it down to her level. She kissed him again, and bit his lip he traced his tongue around the inside of her mouth and she knotted her hands into his short black hair. He paused and pushed her slammed her into the wall to the left of him. The already damaged floral wallpaper peeled off as Shaundi and Raider rubbed against it, locked in the heat of their lust.

Raider reached around Shaundi's thin back and found the clasp of her bra. He unfastened it and threw it on the hardwood floor. Shaundi slipped out of his arms and onto the floor. She reached for his pants and pulled them down to his ankles. He stepped out of them and went for her pants, he unbuckled her chain belt then helped her step out of her skinny jeans after he pulled them down. He picked her back up and carried her into his room at the end of the hallway at the top of the stairs. He pushed the rickety white door open and stepped inside. Raider carried Shaundi over to the bed and threw her down on it. The bed was new, he'd gotten it after seeing the roaches nesting in his old one. The blue sheets ruffled as Shaundi moved over them, she placed one of the fluffy white pillows behind her head and waited. Raider knelt down in front of her and grabbed her lacy purple and black thong between his teeth. He pulled it down and threw it in the floor and marveled at Shaundi's beauty. _'Damn, her body is even better than I thought that it would be.', _Raider thought to himself, feeling very impressed with Shaundi's appearance. He got on top of her with his boxers still on just before he realized that he wasn't wearing a condom.

"Shit, I ain't got protection on." He said, sliding off of Shaundi. She rolled her eyes and waited for him to return. Raider walked over to his dresser and opened the bottom drawer. The old and partially broken oak dresser creaked as the drawer was opened and the box of cheap condoms was removed. Raider didn't think to check how old they were, because he really wasn't thinking too much about anything. He went back over to Shaundi who sat up and pulled down his blue and black striped boxers before she slid the condom over him. She laid back down and he got on top of her. They kissed for a few seconds before he thrust inside of her and their worlds entered a state of passionate bliss.

A/N Sorry for the dirty scene, but it had to be done.


	2. Chapter 2 Well, Shit

Raider Brent sat in his bedroom in the Saints Headquarters, with his head in his hands. His mind was in utter turmoil, with the secrets that he refused to tell, and the past that still haunted him. The few months that had came after he and Shaundi's one-night stand had seemed to pass by in a blur, with everything going much the same as it usually did, each of the lieutenants gathering intel on their assigned gangs, Raider doing his part to put the info to good use. Shaundi had definitely opened up to him more, and it was scarily clear that no matter how high and drunk that she had been that night, she still remembered what had happened, and what they had done.

Raider was trying to sort through his confused feelings for the girl, he had started coming to the conclusion that he cared about her, but whether or not he loved her remained to be seen. He just wasn't ready to put his heart on the line. He knew Shaundi, and if he'd ever met a heart-breaker, she was the very embodiment of one. After Lin, Raider had sort of stopped believing in the concept of love.

He had fallen hard and fast for Lin, an older woman than he had been by four years, and had given his heart to her. He hadn't been as battle hardened as he was by this point, so he'd still had some hope for happy endings. Plus, Lin had been the first person that he'd ever spent the night with, and that wasn't something that he took lightly, especially since he had only been sixteen at the time. Come to think about it, in our society, she had technically raped him, but he didn't give a fuck. He would have spent his entire life with her, had her going undercover not gotten her killed. He still blamed Julius, not only for the boat explosion that nearly ended his life and the ensuing coma, but for forcing Lin to go into the Rollerz without backup. If she'd just had a few contacts within the Rollerz, maybe she'd still be alive.

Raider was twenty five now, but after so many years, he still missed the fiery hearted girl with the chopsticks in her hair. He knew that the reason why he had such a hard time knowing how he felt about Shaundi was because of his leftover feelings for Lin. He wanted to let go of her, because he knew deep down, that if she were still there, she would tell him something like,

"_Raider, stop trying to use me as an excuse to be pissed off and angry all the time, sure, it's damn sexy, but you have to let me go sometime, because I ain't coming back."_

Raider knew that it was true, as a gang leader, he could do many things, but bringing the dead back to life wasn't one of them. He wanted to let go, but it was two soon for him, in reality, it had been around seven years since Lin's death, but for Raider, it was still two, because he had only been out of the coma for a few months, and Lin's death had occurred only two years before he'd went under.

Raider had barely been eighteen when Lin had died, only been in love for about two years. He hadn't been ready to say goodbye. So after he'd swam to shore, after Lin had sacrificed herself to save him, he'd passed out on the asphalt of some boat dock, either from his injuries, shock, or heartbreak.

He'd woken up a few hours later on a pew in the old church, with several blankets covering him, Gat had been there, sitting beside his feet. He had told Raider that Lin had been found dead as soon as he'd realized that the one they had called playa had awoken. Raider had never been the same after that, and to make matters worse, only two years later Raider was sent into a coma that spanned five years. The day that he had woken up in the Stilwater Correctional Facility, his first regained memory had been of Lin's death.

Raider stood up, pushing himself up off his mattress. The blue plush comforter slipped onto the blue plaid carpet as the weight of his body was removed from it. He leaned down and picked it back up, and for the fiftieth time, he wondered why his favorite color had to be blue, he was okay with the color purple, but it wasn't his favorite. He liked blue, because he felt like it was a more masculine color.

Sighing, Raider walked over to the white door that was the only exit out of his bedroom, and turned the bronze handle. The old door's hinges creaked loudly as the door was pushed open. Raider closed it behind him and walked down the ever rusted staircase towards the living room of the Saints HQ. He passed the angel statue and felt a strange sense of calm wash over him as he remembered the many nights that he and Lin had sat together, under the watchful gaze of the Saint's embodiment.

As he entered the living room, he noticed someone sitting at the mini bar, with their head propped up on the glass table. Upon closer inspection, Raider realized that it was Shaundi.

"Shaundi, you okay?" Raider asked, as he walked closer to her and lifted her head gently off of the table. He realized fearfully that his lieutenant was unconscious and barely breathing.

"Fucking A! Gat, get your ass in here!" he yelled, hoping that Gat was in the HQ. A pounding from the top of the staircase let him know that either Gat had just arrived, or he had been there the entire time.

"What the hell is going on?" Gat asked, coming to stand beside Raider. He took in the sight of the passed out Shaundi and knew that something was terribly wrong. "Why is Shaundi passed out?" He added, peering at his Boss over the rim of his sunglasses. He and Raider glanced at the mini bar at the same time and noticed the empty bottle of vodka and the half empty baggy of loa dust, right next to a partially broken light bulb. The two men quickly put the pieces together in their heads.

"She fucked up bad, this time." Gat said, and Raider nodded.

"We've got to get her to the hospital, now." He added, grabbing Shaundi by the waist and heaving her gently into his arms. The girl didn't awaken, and Raider felt dread course through his stomach. He felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced at Gat, who gave him a half-hearted smile.

"She'll be alright, Boss. She always is." He said, to which the Saints leader only nodded then headed up the stairs and into the recently installed elevator.

Once on the asphalt of the street outside, Raider head towards the white Swindle that he regularly drove. Gat was two steps behind him.

"Boss, you can get into the back with Shaundi, I'll drive." He said, to which Raider complied. He tore open the back car door and carefully laid Shaundi on the blue upholstery, and got in on the other side. To make room for himself, he placed her head gently across his lap. She moaned, but didn't wake up, and Raider found himself running his fingers through her long brown dreads.

"You'll be okay, Shaundi." He mumbled, hoping that he wasn't bullshitting her, and himself. Gat pushed the accelerator hard, and the trio began the short trip to try and save Shaundi's life.

Not long after, they arrived at Stilwater Memorial hospital, and based on how Raider and Gat looked at each other, it was clear that both remembered the day that Gat had had to be saved from the Ronin attack. Gat swerved into the parking lot and parked in between a black Stiletto and a green Compensator. The drivers of each vehicle, in one young woman of about twenty three, and a man of about fifty five, looked at them with looks of extreme horror due to Gat's extreme driving. The two conscious Saints ignored their looks of disapproval.

Raider unbuckled Shaundi's seatbelt with frantic movements and threw open his car door. He ran around to Shaundi's side of the vehicle and opened her door, then wrapped his arms around her slim waist, he heaved her into his arms and closed the door. The unconscious girl's head rolled onto his shoulder. With Shaundi in tow, Raider made his way to the emergency room entrance to the hospital, Gat close on his heels.

When Raider arrived at the automatic doors, dread coursed through his veins as doctors rushed towards them, his blood seemed to freeze as the full and harsh reality of the situation dawned on him. Shaundi could die, plain and simple, and she would die without Raider ever confessing that he cared about her. He finally allowed himself to remember the night that though he had been drunk, he could never forget. '_Shaundi and me, we were together. I don't know how the fuck that it happened, but it did. She'll probably just die, like Lin did. _' he thought to himself, anger and sadness rising up and choking his heart.

"What happened?" A voice coming directly in front of them asked. Raider looked up with no emotion on his face.

"Doesn't fucking matter what happened to her, you've got to give her treatment, no matter what happened, right?" he asked, his voice colder than dry ice. The young male doctor was upset by Raider's attitude, but he hid it well.

"Yes..., but it would help us if we knew where to start." Raider sighed and nodded, resigning to blow Shaundi's secret.

"You know that loa dust? She smoked half a bag of it and chugged down an entire bottle of vodka." The doctor's blue eyes went wide with shock at the realization of how serious the situation really was.

"Why didn't you tell me that she overdosed or something? I thought that she hit her head. I didn't know that it was that serious." Surprisingly, Gat, who had remained silent up until this point, spoke.

"We know what would have happened if we had told you that she was doing drugs, you would have reported straight to the Stilwater fucking PD. " He snarled out, rage coloring his words. The doctor's eyes flashed at the accusation, he was clearly upset, and ended up not being able to keep his temper in check.

"Fuck off, don't think that I don't know who you are. I'm not going to do the right thing and call Troy because I don't want trouble with the Saints." The doctor then reached for Shaundi, Raider allowed him to load her onto the gurney that another doctor had brought to him. Raider glanced behind him at Gat, who had his head in his hands.

"Shit Johnny, how are you holding up?" Raider asked him, as he he walked over to his second-in-command and placed his hand on his shoulder. Gat stiffened, clearly not expecting the physical contact.

"Fuck, I don't know, Shaundi's a strong girl and all, but-" he paused, trying to find a good way to phrase what he wanted to say, preferably something that wouldn't get him shot in the ass.

"Why the hell are you asking if I'm alright for? I thought that you were the one who wanted to get into her pants." To Gat's utter surprise, Raider's normally tanned face paled considerably, and he tuned on his his heels and went inside the hospital, allowing the heavy metal doors to slam shut with a loud crash, leaving Gat standing there dumbstruck. He didn't know what had caused Raider to react like that, but there was no mistaking how upset that he had been. _'Something's going on that I don't know about.'_ he thought to himself as he pushed open the solid metal doors to the hospital and stepped inside.

Moments later, the strong scent of latex filled his nostrils as he walked into the main lobby of the hospital. Sick and injured people sat in chairs that lined the walls, some appeared to be merely ill, and others looked close to death. He saw Raider sitting in a stained blue chair against the wall farest from the entrance. He had an extremely pissed off expression his face so Gat knew that he was still angry from their conversation outside.

Gat steeled himself and began the long walk to his leader, nearly tripping over the body of a sick, or dead, person who had laid down on the white linoleum floor. It was a man, probably aged no more than twenty years, Gat noticed. The young man moaned, but didn't respond to the fact that he'd almost been stepped on. Gat moved along, suddenly feeling uneasy as he realized that there were several pairs of eyes trained on him. He glanced around the room, and his eyes rested on a woman of about fifty years, she had her hawk-like blue, cataract filled gaze trained on him. She made Gat feel uneasy, and it felt like she knew who he was, that he was second-in-command to a gang leader, because her gaze seemed to radiate disapproval.

Gat glanced to the woman's right at the glass coffee table that had a single brown flower pot situated on it. The flower pot was filled with half-dead roses.

_'The way that old bitch is looking at me, it kind of feels like she wants me to wilt like those damn flowers that she's sitting beside. I know that she doesn't like me, that much isn't hard to guess, not that I give a fuck, but why does she hate me? I wonder if the Saints killed someone that she loved.' _He thought to himself as he walked pass the old woman and closer to Raider, who had finally realized that Gat was in the lobby. He looked at his second-in-command with anger in his icy blue eyes, the eyes that had secretly unnerved Gat for years, because he had never seen an Asian person with blue eyes. Raider moved his gaze to the wall beside him, and focused heavily on the peeling tan wallpaper.

He felt Gat take the seat beside him, and had to force himself not to cause bodily harm to him.

"Boss, for fuck's sake... what did I say outside that pissed you off so bad. I'm a vulgar smart ass, but you already knew that. So why did me saying what I did upset you?" He heard Gat ask, and he turned around in his blue plush seat to look at him.

"Because Gat", he began, but had to pause to get his thoughts in order, "it's not what you said that upset me, it's what me and Shaundi did." Gat's face took on a surprised expression when he realized what Raider was trying to tell him.

"Shit, Boss, you fucked Shaundi?" He asked, and Raider became particularly interested in the wallpaper again. After a few seconds, he spoke.

"Yeah, I did. When you brought that damn EverClear over to the HQ, we were drunk and high. We weren't really thinking about it, and-"

"Did you use a goddamned condom?" Gat asked, effectively cutting him off. Raider looked confused, but he nodded. Gat laughed evilly, causing several people to give him dirty looks, Raider among them.

"Gat, why the hell are you laughing like a maniac? I mean besides the fact that you are a maniac, but you usually don't laugh like one." Gat stopped his hysterical laughter and grinned, he expression appeared as happy as if he had unlocked the secret of the universe.

"Boss, don't use the fucking excuse that you were high and drunk, if you were sober enough to know to use a condom, then you weren't fucked up enough to not know that you were about to screw your lieutenant. Don't try the 'I don't know how it happened.' shit with me, because I know better." Raider's face fell in minor embarrassment as Gat called him out, catching his lie, it was true, though, that Raider had been conscious enough to realize that he was about to get into bed

someone who had a position of power within his gang.

"Shut the hell up, Gat! You have no way of proving that I knew what I was doing." he said simply, he felt slightly better about the situation after telling him to shut up. It made him feel like they were two brothers who were having an argument and in reality, he knew that they-. Thankfully, Gat spoke, interrupting Raider's thoughts.

"Boss, I've seen how you look at her. You've acted like an ass to her, on occasion, but I know that you would do anything for her. Plus, she's a smartass, and with the way she talks to you, it's no problem letting her get away with it, but if it were anyone else." Gat said, allowing Raider to fill in the blank.

"I'd kick their motherfucking ass." Raider finished, finally accepting the truth of Gat's words. Gat gave him a minute to gather his thoughts before he replied.

"I pretended that I didn't hear you say 'You'll be okay, Shaundi.' in the car. You sounded so damn broken up about it. What I said outside wasn't the right way to phrase it, but whoever said that I'm an expert at being subtle is an idiot." Raider let out a choked laugh, but realized that he would go insane if they stayed on the topic much longer, so he decided to tell Gat the secret that he'd kept hidden from his second-in-command for years.

"Gat, I have something to tell you-"

"I'm sorry, but are you the two men who came in with that Shaundi woman?" Someone spoke up, cutting off Raider and stopping him from revealing the truth. He and Gat looked up and met the concerned green eyes of a nurse. They nodded and she gave them a comforting smile, though there was something lurking behind those eyes.

"The doctor is ready to update you on her condition."

"Why can't **you **update us on her condition." Raider asked, feeling anger towards the nurse, who only shook her head and nodded her head to the door beside the last chair on their row. Gat stood up and gave the nurse a hard look, but he too looked at Raider and nodded his head towards the door.

Raider got up too and followed Gat through the oak-wood double doors and into a large hallway. The two men glanced around until they saw a door with patient name of Shaundi printed on it. They pushed the heavy door open and found a tall doctor standing over a still sleeping Shaundi, a clipboard and black ballpoint pen in his hand. He appeared to be checking wires that were attached to Shaundi's hands, but he glanced up when he heard the door close. His name-tag read Dr. Jackson Prestridge

"Are you the two men that brought this woman to the hospital?" He asked, as he readjusted the pink blanket that covered Shaundi's slim torso.

"Yeah, we are." Raider replied, there were no niceties exchanged between them, only harsh formalities. "How is she doing?" The doctor sighed deeply, as if he didn't want to be truthful about Shaundi's condition, and that worried Raider.

"Well, aside from the obvious, she nearly died. Loa dust and vodka were never meant to be mixed, especially in the quantities that this young woman took them. But I believe that I understand why she went to such extremes. I think that she was looking for a way out." Raider's stomach hit the floor, and he genuinely felt like he was going to be sick.

"The fuck do you mean, doc? Are you saying that you think she was trying to commit fucking...suicide?" The doctor looked away and took his thick rimmed glasses off of his eyes and absently cleaned them.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to say. Being pregnant and young with a husband is scary enough but not being married makes it even more of a challenge-"

"What the hell are you talking about being pregnant for ? Shaundi's not pregnant, why the fuck would you say that?" The doctor's brown eyes widened in shock.

"You didn't know? Ms. Shaundi is about two months pregnant." Raider shook his head to try and clear it. He could only see a film of bright red that obscured his vision. He felt only a sense of deafening shock and rage. He could hear voices coming at him from all directions, but he couldn't hear the words. He could only hear the doctor's words, as loud as ocean waves crashing in his ears _'You didn't know? Ms. Shaundi is about two months pregnant.' _He needed an escape, an outlet to the emotional turmoil that overwhelmed his senses. He knew somehow, that it was **his baby**, and he wasn't ready to be a father.

He yelled, a loud grating noise as right hand slammed into the large glass window to Gat's left. Shards of glass flew everywhere as his flesh made contact with the glass. The doctor and Gat cringed as the loud noise of breaking glass filled the room. Raider pulled his hand out of the gaping hole in the cracked window, sending droplets of ruby red blood all over the sterile linoleum floor. He stared at the doctor then at Gat, the madness of rage and shock still clearly written all over his face. His blue eyes were bright with pain and confusion, but he still headed towards the exit, allowing the double doors to slam shut behind him.

Gat stared at Shaundi who had woken up because of the noise, he watched in a state of utter detachment as the tears ran down her face. She had already known that she was pregnant when she'd tried to commit suicide, and that the baby was Raider's.

"You knew didn't you? You fucking knew, Shaundi!" Gat yelled, aiming his anger at the woman lying in the hospital bed. Shaundi looked away and nodded, confirming Gat's suspicion that even if she hadn't guessed that the baby was Raider's, she had known that she was pregnant when she had tried to kill herself. Gat shook his head in disgust and spun around, leaving the room and following after his Boss.

Gat didn't find him for several minutes, until he decided to do a full scope of the hospital. He came to a particularly shady alley where the coppery scent of iron was fresh in the air. The blood was in puddles that were spaced several inches apart along the black asphalt of the alleyway. Gat walked along the side street and came to another section of the street, where he could faintly see a silhouette sitting beside a dumpster.

"Boss? Is that you?" Gat asked, and though no answer came in the form of words, he could see the silhouette nod it's head. "You alright?" He added, but the silhouette remained still.

He walked closer to Raider and knelt down in front of him, and frankly, the large puddle of blood in front of the Boss scared the shit out of Gat.

"Fuck, Boss. Let me see your goddamned hand." Raider complied and held out his hand. Gat took it and rolled up the sleeve of Raider's black trench coat. Drops of blood rolled down Gat's own arm as he examined the gaping gash that spanned from Raider's knuckle to his wrist.

"I need to staunch the blood flow or you're going to pass out." Gat said, as he unbuttoned his silky purple over-shirt and removed it, leaving him wearing only his white undershirt. He held the material tightly as he tied it around Raider's arm and applied firm pressure to the wound. Raider moaned and clenched his white teeth together, but said nothing. Gat released Raider's arm and sat beside him, as soon as he was situated, he laid his leader's arm across his lap and continued to apply pressure to the injury.

"You're going to need stitches, you know." Gat said, glancing over at Raider.

"I know." Raider replied simply. He obviously wasn't ready to talk about what had happened inside, but Gat was.

"Boss, what you did was fucking stupid. I'm not saying that I don't understand it, but it was still stupid." Raider didn't respond in any way to being called 'stupid', so Gat was a little bit worried.

"Johnny, she tried to kill herself, while she was fucking pregnant." Raider said, finally meeting Gat's eyes. "She's pregnant with my baby." He added, looking away again.

"We don't know if it's your baby, Boss." Gat tried to console him, but even he knew that it was a weak attempt.

"The timing is right for it to be mine." Gat didn't reply, so Raider changed the subject. "Gat, who are your parents?" Gat stiffened, but forced himself to relax.

"Shit, well, I don't actually know **who** my real parents are, I've never met them." Gat took a deep breath before continuing. "I was adopted."

"I knew that." Raider replied, looking at Gat once again while waiting for his reaction. When he got none, he continued. "Do you have any idea why I never mentioned my name to anyone?" He questioned, his sharp blue gaze boring into Gat and making him feel surprisingly uncomfortable.

"I don't know why you never told anyone, no. But it's not like I haven't wondered." Raider laughed, but it wasn't a humorous laugh, in fact it sounded sort of evil.

"It's because I'm your brother, Gat. Our parents didn't want you to know and-"

"Raider, I know." Gat said, earning him a sharp gaze from his brother.

"How the fuck do you know, Gat?" Raider blurted out, feeling more confused than he ever had before.

"Raider, our mom has terminal cancer. She called me the day that she told you that she was dying. She told me to keep the pretense up that I didn't know because she didn't want you have to feel uncomfortable when the secret came to light. I know why I was given up for adoption, and it's okay." Raider laughed hysterically and Gat realized that it was more from excessive blood loss than actual humor.

"Raider, we'll talk about this more after you've slept some. Right now we need to go and get your arm fixed up before it's too late to get stitches." He stood up and grabbed Raider's good arm, supporting most of his younger brother's weight on his shoulder. Raider lost his balance and fell into the brick wall of the back of the hospital. Gat carefully pulled him upright and towed him inside.

"Ow, fuck!" Raider yelled as a young female doctor sewed up the gash in his arm. So far they were at ten stitches, and Raider had actually admitted that he was in pain. "Stitches hurt like a motherfucker. Why the hell do you think that I usually don't let you try and stitch me up after I get shot, Gat?" He asked, training his unnervingly blue gaze onto Johnny.

"Because you're an idiot?" Johnny replied, smirking at him. "How many fucking scars do you have because you couldn't stop being a pussy?"

"I don't know. But if we're counting the leftover ones from the boat explosion, I've got a few." Raider replied, causing Gat to cease speaking. He sometimes forgot that Raider's life had nearly been ended in a boat explosion when he was only twenty years old. The kid probably did have a lot of scars, both emotional and physical.

"Sir, could you please keep your arm still so I can work on it? I'm almost done." The doctor said, her slate gray eyes boring into Raider's blue ones.

"Sorry, I'll be still." He replied honestly, and he meant it. He kept the promise of being still up until the point that a familiar voice sounded from outside the closed oak wood door of his room.

"Raider, can I come in?" It was Shaundi's voice. Gat reacted as quickly as he could, he grabbed Raider's shoulder, trying to force him not to get up. It took a lot to get Raider **that **riled up, but once he was at that stage of anger, he was on the hunt for blood, and it didn't matter who the fuck that you were.

"Johnny, get the fuck off of me!" Raider yelled, his thrashing around caused the needle positioned at his arm to slip and slice open his injury even worse, though the enraged gang leader didn't notice. Suddenly the door opened, and Shaundi stood outside it, wearing a white hospital gown and bottoms. She stared at Raider in shock for a minute, as she registered that his outburst was because of her, and not the pain in his arm. She watched, strangely mesmerized as red blood dripped onto the white sheets of the hospital bed.

"Raider, I'm sorry! Please let me explain." Shaundi begged, but Raider had no mercy.

"You fucking tried to kill yourself! What the fuck is wrong with you? Is- is it my baby?"

"Yes, it's your baby. I know it's hard to believe, but after **we** had sex, I didn't fuck anyone else. The timing is perfect for it to be yours." She paused, but Raider said nothing, it was more like he **couldn't **say anything. "Look, I didn't want to be pregnant, and I couldn't directly kill the baby. My sister did that, if she's every regretted anything, it would be the fact that she had an abortion when she was eighteen. I remember what she told me, so I regret trying to kill myself, and I want to have **our **baby." Raider looked at her and for the first time since she had met him, probably since any of the Saints had met him, Raider's blue eyes became wet, and a few tears fell out of them.

"Shaundi, how the fuck are we going to raise a baby in a life like ours? I have so many guns in my room that we could share with the military and still have enough to fight off the entire police force. We can't bring a child into a life like that." Shaund walked over to Raider, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"We can, and we **will. **It'll be hard, yeah. But at least the baby will have parents who can protect it, and a whole group of other people who can help take care of it. It won't be a traditional life, but I hope that it'll be a good one." She paused as her own eyes became wet, and the nurse who was still stitching up Raider's arm smiled at her, though she remained respectfully quiet. "We'll get through this, somehow. We always do." Shaundi added, and Gat nodded at her, as he went back to his seat.

"I'm done stitching up your arm, if you three want to speak privately." The nurse said. She grabbed her medical supplies and left the trio alone. Raider glanced at Gat who stood up and without a word, left the room too.

"I need to get to the bottom of this, Shaundi." Raider said simply, no longer meeting Shaundi's gaze.

"Get to the bottom of what, Raider?" She asked, taking the black leather seat beside the bed that Gat had been sitting in.

"How you feel about me. You fuck so many guys that it's kind of hard to imagine you going steady with anyone." Shaundi laughed, one of the first cheerful noises that anyone had made since the conversation had started.

"You talk about me not being able to have a steady relationship? What about you, and all of the prostitutes that you go to sleep with? Have **you ever **had a steady relationship?" Shaundi wasn't expecting the death glare that received from him.

"There are a lot of things that you don't know about me, like the fact that I was in love, once."' Raider replied, his eyes seeming to bore into Shaundi's soul. "She was murdered, and that's when I stopped having steady relationships."

"Who was she?" Shaunid asked tentatively, she wasn't expecting him to answer, not really, so when he blew off her question, she wasn't surprised.

"Ask Johnny about her sometime. It's been... longer for him since she died. I'm not ready to talk about it." Shaundi looked away, '_I feel like pushing him would be a bad idea.'_

"I'll talk to Gat about it later, but Boss, you need to know that you can talk to me. We've got a lot of shit to sort through, but we're still a gang."

"I know." Raider said with a smirk.


End file.
